Ball Martin, M?ller Nicole. The Celtic Languages

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686 THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGES

both content and design had been produced but there was a gap in material for older chil-

dren and young people. Between 1980 and 1986 the Welsh Books Council supported 406

titles at a cost of £373,378 (Market Research Working Party 1988: 15, 17). Between 1983

and 1987 the Arts Council supported a further ten titles. This is an excellent example of

co- ordination of effort and co- operation between these three agencies.

With an expansion in Welsh- medium education, there has been considerable expansion

in the publishing of textbooks. Between 1982 and 1987 Welsh local education author-

ities supported 132 titles (Market Research Working Party 1988: 18). Further support

came from the Welsh Ofﬁ ce Grant which totalled £3.3m between 1978/9 and 1987/8. This

growth, dictated by readership demands, has been in children’s and young people’s books

and magazines, such that there is now a vibrant and attractive publishing output covering

a very wide range of interests.

However, it has to be borne in mind that more books, in a wider spectrum of ﬁ elds for a

diversiﬁ ed readership range, cannot possibly be produced without nurturing new authors,

because professional authors in Welsh comprise a rare breed since the ﬁ nancial rewards

are far from adequate.

Between 1978 and 1988 the number of new publications rose by 56.4 per cent from

266 to 416 in 1988, but the increase in children’s publications was 176.3 per cent during

the decade. In 1978 children’s books represented approximately 30 per cent of that year’s

output, but ten years later this category represented 47.6 per cent of the annual output.

Children’s books, ﬁ ction and non- ﬁ ction became top of the production line and this

mainly because of Welsh Ofﬁ ce support. Some headway was made in popular books for

young adults but the actual increase was only 5.5 per cent. This is the very area where fur-

ther expansion has been realized so as to reduce the dependency on the reading of Welsh

books as a school- linked phenomenon.

Since 1998 a reinvigorated publishing and media industry has laid greater emphasis

on commissioning and promoting the publication of novels, leisure and light reading for

adults, which should have a fairly wide readership appeal. In 2007 the Welsh Books Coun-

cil had 49 full- time employees and an annual turnover of £4.89 million. Within its Welsh

language section a total of £1,357,078 was distributed towards the publishing of Welsh

language books and magazines, and other materials such as audio- books and CD- ROMS.

In total 231 books were supported and sixteen magazines. Of course, many other volumes

are published outwith the remit of the Welsh Books Council, be they private commercial

publishers, the University of Wales Press, the Welsh Joint Education Committee and sev-

eral other agencies.

Allied to this growth in encouraging reading in Welsh is the development of commu-

nity newspapers in Wales over the past forty years which furnishes clear examples of

a self- help movement among ordinary people in local communities. Betts (1976: 142)

avers that ‘The launching of the monthly “papurau bro” (seven between September 1974

and the 1975 National Eisteddfod) based almost entirely on a formula of local news is

thus one of the most signiﬁ cant developments ever in Welsh language journalism.’ It

helped reverse the depressing situation at the beginning of the 1970s when sales ﬁ gures

for national newspapers such as Y Cymro and Y Faner were disappointingly low. Local

Welsh weeklies such as Yr Herald Gymraeg and Herald Môn were struggling even in

the Welsh- language strongholds of Gwynedd.

Productive literacy was rapidly becom-

ing the domain of an educated elite. Welsh reading material was rejected as being too

high- brow and the style was too complicated and unfamiliar. During the 1960s the Welsh

language had secured a certain amount of ofﬁ cial recognition but it was felt that gains at

the formal, ofﬁ cial level needed to be matched by greater use of the language in unofﬁ cial

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONTEXT OF WELSH 687

and informal contexts where the mass of Welsh speakers would be able to use it and

appreciate its utilitarian applications. This campaign to foster the use of Welsh in infor-

mal contexts where English had already been making considerable inroads resulted in the

phenomenal growth of the Welsh pop- record market, greater use of Welsh in the media,

and at the local level in the publication of community newspapers. The importance of the

latter development is described by Clive Betts (1976: 132): ‘The new papurau bro (dis-

trict papers) have rescued the language from the clutches of the littérateur and returned it

to the manual labourer in the council house up the street who is far more interested in the

state of his sewers than in the latest poetic gem from the minister in the manse in the next

county.’

In 1971 Llais Ceredigion saw the light of day, but owing to ﬁ nancial and distribution

problems it ceased after ﬁ ve issues. In April 1973 Y Dinesydd was published in Cardiff

as an attempt to give greater publicity to the social- network linked activities of the vari-

ous Welsh- speaking strands in the capital. The following year four new newspapers were

launched, all in Welsh- speaking areas, but geographically spread from Crymych in the

south- west to Talybont/Glandyﬁ in the midlands, to Bala and Bethesda in the north. The

editor of Papur Pawb estimated that in 1973 only approximately 20 per cent of the people

around Talybont were reading Welsh, and yet with the introduction of the papur bro the

ﬁ gure was boosted to a signiﬁ cant 90 per cent (Betts 1976: 142). The initial aim of the

papurau bro was to provide reading material in Welsh which would be appealing and

relevant to the local communities. They were aimed at fostering and encouraging Welsh-

medium social activities, defending and strengthening the local Welsh community, and

promoting economic development at the local level. Many of them are no more than a cat-

alogue of local news items – births, marriages, deaths and reports of cultural, social and

sports events. All are purely local in orientation. Others over the years have become more

ambitious and have realized that the newspaper can be a force in inﬂ uencing, and indeed

in promoting, national and local issues. This, of course, entails extending the domains of

the language from discussing purely local social matters to dealing with political, eco-

nomic and national issues.

The papurau bro have improved both in terms of content and appearance and have

increased in circulation. Between 1973 and 1989, sixty- three community newspapers

were established and ﬁ fty- four of those are still in existence. That represents a consid-

erable success rate because all the work at the local level is accomplished by volunteers.

In 1987/8 over 60,000 copies of papurau bro were bought every month (C. Jones 1988:

19). However, it is estimated that the actual readership will be nearer 180,000 as many

newspapers are distributed free to employees in large institutions such as universities and

hospitals. The growth rate was phenomenal during the 1975–80 period. It then slowed

down between 1980 and 1983, and since then growth has been minimal. This again shows

clearly that 1975–80 was the ‘golden age’ when forty new papurau bro were established,

in complete contrast with 1984–9 when the new titles were only six in number.

The

location and circulation of papurau bro in 1989 is shown in Figure 14.9 (overleaf). Cur-

rently there are about ﬁ fty- eight papurau bro which are published regularly. Newsprint

journalism might see a signiﬁ cant boost in both its quality and reach with the launch of a

daily Welsh- medium newspaper designed to offer real choice to readers who can currently

access only English- language newspapers, if and when it becomes a viable proposition.

688 THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGES

THE MASS MEDIA

With the advent of new technology, no community can be isolated and insulated from

outside inﬂ uences whether they are cultural, attitudinal, moral, political or linguistic. It

used to be held that two main pillars supported the Welsh language, namely the home and

the chapel. Even when all other daily situations demanded use of English, Welsh would

Figure 14.9 Location and circulation of community newspapers, 1989.

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONTEXT OF WELSH 689

remain the language of hearth and home and of religion. It was held that the purpose of

education was to teach English, and the home and Sunday school would look after Welsh.

The same kind of pattern and mentality emerged within the Welsh community in Patago-

nia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Education, administration, commerce and

banking were conducted in Spanish which became the ofﬁ cial language of public life, and

gradually displaced Welsh in all public domains apart from the religious context. In Pat-

agonia such a restricted, register range has resulted in language choice being determined

largely by locale. Two individuals will address each other in Welsh in chapel and also in

each other’s homes. In the post ofﬁ ce, the shops, the banks or indeed any other public

place the same individuals will speak to each other in Spanish. It would seem to be a

unique diglossic situation, but nevertheless a very dangerous one for the very existence of

the minority language. When the majority language spreads into the home, experts argue

that the minority language is lost. The invasion of the home domain by English via the

mass media was considered a crucial factor in linguistic erosion and language shift during

the second half of the twentieth century. During the 1970s Welsh- language activists were

concerned that the dominance of English programmes on the radio and particularly on

television was having an erosive effect upon the use of the Welsh language. American

research had concluded that television has negative effects on minority languages and

cultures (Berry and Mitchell- Kernan 1982). E. Price- Jones’s (1982) research in Wales

afﬁ rmed this conclusion. He shows that television can affect children’s attitudes to Welsh,

and if other Welsh cultural inﬂ uences are absent – if, for example, a child is not exposed

to Welsh- medium Sunday school and its related religious and cultural milieu, then he or

she is likely to adopt a less favourable attitude to the Welsh language. This tends to lead

to a language shift because of a higher degree of English acculturation which is brought

to children’s homes via television and other media. The conventional view is that as chil-

dren spend more time watching television than any other activity, the erosive effect of

the mass media on language and culture becomes very apparent. There were a few Welsh

programmes on television during the 1960s and 1970s, but they were mostly screened at

unsociable hours. One had to be an enthusiast to tune in to a Welsh programme after the

English station had closed. Linguistic equality did not exist in spite of the Welsh Lan-

guage Act of 1967. As is indicated in Table 14.13, in 1971–2 barely two hours out of a

total of 65 were devoted to Welsh- medium radio broadcasting, and less than two hours out

of a total of 29 hours were devoted to Welsh- medium television transmission.

Table 14.13 Welsh and English broadcasting 1971–2

Welsh English Total

Radio 2 hrs 9 mins 63 hrs 24 mins 65 hrs 33 mins

Television 1 hr 48 mins 27 hrs 16 mins 29 hrs 4 mins

Totals 3 hrs 57 mins 90 hrs 40 mins 94 hr. 37 mins

Agitations, protests and a sustained series of campaigns for better provision char-

acterized the 1970s and they represented a valid cross- section of Welsh speakers (see

A. D. Rees 1971, 1973: 179–93; Davies 1972). In 1972 a total of 94 hours 30 minutes of

programmes per day were broadcast by the BBC and ITV to Wales. A total of 3 hours 57

minutes were given to Welsh and 90 hours 40 minutes devoted to English programmes.

Only 3.3 per cent of all radio broadcasts were in Welsh and a mere 6.2 per cent of all

television programmes catered for Welsh speakers. Such a situation was seen as grossly

690 THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGES

unfair. Rees (1973: 180) comments: ‘But on radio there was only one hour of Welsh for

every thirty- one in English and on television one for every ﬁ fteen. In short, the propor-

tion of Welsh broadcasting in Wales bears no relation whatsoever to the proportion of

Welsh speakers in the population. The Welsh language is simply drowned in a sea of

English.’

During 1959–60 a total of 16.4 hours per week were transmitted, increasing to 27.8

hours in 1971–2. That represented a 5.8 per cent increase per year over the twelve

years whereas the growth rate in English programmes had been 6.3 per cent per annum.

Although the total number of hours of Welsh had increased by 11.4 hours per week,

proportionally the provision for Welsh speakers had diminished in comparison to English-

language programmes being transmitted. The Welsh Language Society persisted in its

non- violent campaign for radical change (C. H. Williams 1977) and offended some, but

stirred the conscience of others and won their sympathy. A. D. Rees states:

While Judges condemn the offenders as criminals, such national bodies as the Guild

of Graduates of the University of Wales and the National Eisteddfod confer honours

upon them . . . Under the Society’s leadership, hundreds of older people are already

withholding payment of television licences and scores of them have been ﬁ ned by

magistrates’ courts – each offender taking advantage of the court as a public platform

to draw attention to the scandalous condition of Welsh broadcasting.

(A. D. Rees 1973: 189)

The Crawford Report 1974 (Home Ofﬁ ce 1974) conceded that a fourth television chan-

nel should be devoted to Welsh- medium broadcasting, but little happened during the

second half of the decade apart from a gradual increase in the number of hours allotted

to Welsh television programmes. In 1971–2 the total amounted to 12.7 hours per week;

by 1978 it had increased to 14.85 hours and in 1981 to18.5 hours. The implementation

of the Crawford Report, however, seemed very uncertain by 1980 when the government

announced that the new fourth channel would not be devoted to Welsh programmes, but

rather that the Welsh output would be increased on existing channels. Such a reversal in

policy resulted in uproar and during the summer of 1980 the Welsh press was dominated

by this question. The issue, indeed, became a symbol of the struggle for the existence

of the language and culture. Dr Gwynfor Evans, president of Plaid Cymru and widely

respected even by his political opponents, announced that his fast to death would start

on 6 October 1980 unless the government kept its original promise. A letter signed by

seventy- eight prominent Welsh people was sent to the Home Secretary. They expressed

their concern and dissatisfaction with the existing framework, stressing the important role

that television had in bolstering and enriching Welsh culture. Finally on 17 September the

government announced that the Crawford Report decision would be implemented. A total

of twenty- two hours per week of Welsh programmes would be broadcast on the fourth

channel and at peak viewing time. S4C went on the air in November 1982 and the number

of hours allotted to Welsh- language programmes has gradually increased over the years.

In 1983 the channel provided 24.6 hours of Welsh language broadcasting per week, and

this rose to 29 hours per week by 1990. In 2007 the S4C analogue service broadcast 32

hours of Welsh language programmes mostly in the peak hours, 18:00 to 22:00, in accord-

ance with its statutory obligations. Eighty hours per week are broadcast on the digital S4C

channel, which was launched on the 15 December 1988. In addition, S4C2 broadcasts live

transmissions from the National Assembly for Wales. In 2007 it received £94m of fund-

ing. Some of its Welsh language programmes, including Newyddion and Pobl y Cwm,

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONTEXT OF WELSH 691

are produced by the BBC as part of its public service remit and provided to S4C free of

charge. Most of its English language programmes, derived mainly from Channel 4, are

broadcast at non- peak hours. S4C is controlled by the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority,

which is an independent body unconnected to Ofcom which regulates other UK television

channels such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

Smaller amounts of income are derived from the sale of programmes and broadcast

air time, which totals £5.3 million, a Wales Assembly Government (WAG) annual grant

of £90, 857; £321,000 from the sale of goods and publications and £169,000 from other

sources. It has been calculated that the added value of S4C activities to the Welsh econ-

omy totals some £87 million per annum.

Of course, the greater added value lies in the

availability of high quality entertainment, sport and news- related programmes in Welsh,

which not only acts as a popular social bond but also as a career development choice

within the media.

The full impact of these developments, however, must be seen against the background

of radio broadcasting in Wales during the same period. In 1978 Radio Cymru was estab-

lished and all Welsh- language programmes were moved to the VHF waveband, a total of

approximately 65 hours per week. Radio Cymru was a great success. Now all kinds of

programmes could be broadcast in Welsh from news and current affairs programmes to

chat shows, from pop music to the more traditional hymn singing. There were hobbies’

programmes, women’s programmes and, of course, children’s programmes. Sports took

on a much wider meaning and commentaries and discussions became as natural in Welsh

as the more traditional slot Munud i

feddwl (religious). Subjects which had not hitherto

been discussed in Welsh in public were now commonplace and hence there was an expan-

sion in vocabulary – Welsh words being used instead of loan words. Radio Cymru did

much to raise the linguistic consciousness of the ordinary Welsh speaker and added pres-

tige and status to the language because it managed to show that economics, international

politics, and social matters such as adoption, abortion, racism and AIDS could easily be

discussed in Welsh. The language was no longer restricted to the literary domains of great

poetry, prose and drama, but was shown to be an effective medium for all aspects of life.

Radio Cymru has gone on from strength to strength and, during 2007 approximately 80

hours per week were given to Welsh programmes. Such expansion has not meant a second

rate, inferior or less professional service. Professionalism is one of the hallmarks of Radio

Cymru. It had to succeed, it had to attract listeners, and it was in direct competition with

other established channels. It is now possible to listen to Welsh radio all day with a fasci-

nating array of programmes to suit all tastes. Radio Cymru as a Welsh- medium channel

had operated for four years before the establishment of S4C in 1982. The successes and

failures of the former certainly helped the latter.

From its inception S4C proved to be a great success, particularly since Welsh

programmes were now available at peak viewing time. There have been interesting devel-

opments, successes and failures. News coverage, both Welsh and international, is of a high

standard. Current affairs programmes cover a wide spectrum of subjects and therefore help

to give the language a much wider applicability than has customarily been given to it since

the middle of the nineteenth century. Television, by covering a wide spectrum of subjects

and aspects, is one of the greatest forces in expanding the register range of Welsh speakers.

People can discuss various sports activities in Welsh whereas thirty years ago they would

have used English terms. Welsh language ‘soaps’ and other drama series are extremely

popular and the daily Pobol y Cwm is one of the longest running programmes on Brit-

ish television. Children’s programmes are innovative and professional, and must be so,

in order to compete with the high standards of English counterparts. A few programmes

692 THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGES

are screened speciﬁ cally for learners of the language and several ‘personalities’, such

as Nia Parry, owe their popularity to their commitment to making the learning of Welsh

both effective and fun.

With the increased demands on Welsh teaching arising from the

National Curriculum, more programmes aimed at learners of different age groups are of

immense value.

A number of excellent ﬁ lms and ﬁ lm series have been screened, but more are needed

if S4C is to retain a reasonable percentage of Welsh viewers. The competition is ﬁ erce at

present, because whenever a Welsh programme is screened, the bilingual viewer has the

choice of the whole gamut of digital channels at the same time. A large number of poten-

tial S4C viewers are lost when a popular or appealing programme is screened on the other

channels. S4C recognizes the needs to diversify and has initiated a range of options which

include the development of a second digital channel appealing to teenagers and young

people. This represents quite a challenge because Welsh translations or adaptations of

English programmes would not fully answer the need, since the English ones are already

available and are usually of a high standard. A second pressure on the Authority is the cur-

rent demand that in order to justify its £94 million annual funding from the UK tax and

media support that it develop a Welsh content, but not necessarily a Welsh- medium, mix

of programmes. This might satisfy the inclusive agenda but would certainly go against the

grain of having a default Welsh- medium television channel.

One spin- off from the establishment of Radio Cymru and of S4C is the Welsh-

language mass- media business. The Welsh music business seems to be holding its ground

with a steady ﬂ ow of new products appearing on the market annually. The 1980s heralded

a decade of growth for the ‘independent television studio companies’ which mushroomed

in response to the call for material by the Commissioning Department of S4C. Some

excellent material has been produced by these ‘independent studios’. However, there has

recently been a period of consolidation and retrenchment into ﬁ ve large companies, one

of which, Tinopolis, for example, is a signiﬁ cant player on the international stage, work-

ing out of London, while retaining a smaller proportion of its resource base in and around

Llanelli. Such developments suggest that Welsh can be mainstreamed: even though it is

a minority language, its unique culture can be portrayed effectively to a wider audience,

and hence make an impact on the greater European Union.

CULTURE/LANGUAGE

The Eisteddfod

In spite of periodic ﬁ nancial crises the National Eisteddfod still ﬂ ourishes and alternates

annually between north and south. It is a huge undertaking in terms of arranging, adminis-

tering and ﬁ nancing such an event. It is a cultural gathering that is unique to Wales, where

amateurs compete in set competitions on the literary, musical and dramatic levels and in

the visual arts. It is an excellent manifestation of established Welsh cultural values, ideals

and attainments. The annual ‘National’ is in fact the pinnacle of all the local eisteddfo-

dau held throughout the year. The Eisteddfod Court takes seriously the task of promoting

the culture and language of Wales and takes a leading role in all discussions which have a

bearing on these issues. Since 1950 the ofﬁ cial language has been Welsh and this all- Welsh

rule is jealously safeguarded. All notices on the Eisteddfod ﬁ eld are in Welsh and all the

work of the Eisteddfod is conducted in Welsh. Here even bilingualism is not entertained.

It has been strongly argued that such a strict linguistic rule can do more harm than good

because it excludes non- Welsh speakers from participating fully. Some local authorities

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONTEXT OF WELSH 693

in anglicized areas have refused to contribute towards the costs of the Eisteddfod because

of this linguistic rule. Others have come to accept it as a necessary buffer against poten-

tial anglicization of traditional Welsh cultural events. The rule has not detracted from the

appeal of the Eisteddfod even in predominantly English- speaking areas.

The Eisteddfod is regarded as one of the most prestigious cultural events of the year,

not only in the literary and musical ﬁ elds but progressively so in the domains of drama,

concerts and the visual arts. It is also a meeting point for people of different political

shades, different social backgrounds, different interests, but who are concerned about the

Welsh language and Welsh culture.

The Urdd National Eisteddfod caters for children and young people and has over

the years been very sensitive to the needs of young learners and the absolute necessity

of giving them a taste of Welsh culture and integrating them into that tradition through

involvement in the Eisteddfod’s activities. For many youngsters a visit to the Eistedd-

fod can be a cultural and a linguistic shock. By hearing the language being used naturally

around them, they realize that it is not just a classroom language. By experiencing the

day’s or week’s activities they realize that there is a distinct cultural tradition which is

available to them. Through such activities at local, county and national levels the Urdd

makes a very important contribution to the effort to transmit Welsh cultural values in

music, literature, drama, folk dancing and the visual arts. Its headquarters within the

Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay evince a modernity and self- conﬁ dence, while its wide

programme of activities aims to be inclusive and relevant to today’s youth, regardless of

ethnocultural or racial background.

One may conclude that these associations and movements which foster Welsh culture

are, within the limits of their resources, doing excellent work. By interesting people in

Welsh culture, they are also strengthening and revitalizing the role of the language in

local communities. The main drawback is that such activities are almost totally depend-

ent upon voluntary workers and a large measure of state subvention. There is a dire need

for a structured approach to the transmission of Welsh culture because it is one of the most

important aspects of language maintenance/language planning, particularly since a revi-

talized interest in culture can inevitably affect the social role of language within different

communities.

STATUS AND OFFICIAL DOMAINS OF THE LANGUAGE

For the Welsh language to survive, it must pervade an individual’s whole way of life. The

language needs to be far more ﬂ exible in terms of social domains and potential usage.

The implied inferior status afforded to the Welsh language in the past had an adverse

psychological effect on the speakers of the language. Many came to regard Welsh as

inadequate and unreﬁ ned for the demands of the modern period. It had rural connotations

and was not really suitable for urban and suburban living. Changes in education provi-

sion, however, have gone a long way to redress this imbalance. The growth of Welsh

schools and of Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin, the Mentrau Iaith, the success of Welsh-

medium multi- media, the mushrooming of papurau bro and the streamlining of Welsh

publishing are clear indications of a re- awakening of Welsh- language awareness. There

is a wholehearted determination to expand the use of Welsh, so that its speakers can have

that basic human right of being able to use their chosen language to discuss all aspects

of daily life. Linguistic conﬁ dence goes hand in hand with an awareness of worth and

value resulting in language promotion efforts. The use of Welsh in public life, in the

694 THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGES

economic and ﬁ nancial spheres, in law and administration is a goal which has not been

fully realized for over 450 years. During the latter part of the twentieth century steps

were taken in the right direction: attempts had been made to give the Welsh language a

respected and rightful status in public life. It has been a long, tiresome and often divisive

struggle, but the current sociolinguistic state of the Welsh language, the successes, the

gains, the revitalization of Welsh- speaking networks in the anglicized areas and the new

emphasis on operational bilingualism cannot be fully understood without reference to the

struggle to expand the role of Welsh in the public and institutional spheres in Wales.

At the National Eisteddfod held in Cardiff in 1938 the Welsh Language Petition was

organized and was presented to Parliament in 1941 containing 394,864 signatures. It

called for greater recognition for Welsh in public life. It resulted in the Welsh Courts Act

of 1942 which provided that the Welsh language may be used in any court in Wales, by

any party or witness who considers that he/she would otherwise be at a disadvantage by

reason of his/her natural language of communication being Welsh. All court proceed-

ings, however, were to be recorded in English and so Welsh, although accepted in certain

circumstances, still did not have a status similar to English. During the 1950s and early

1960s individuals protested and tested the system, and these were in a sense forerunners

of the structured national campaigns of the 1960s.

In February 1962 Saunders Lewis delivered the BBC Wales radio lecture entitled

‘Tynged yr Iaith’ (‘The fate of the language’). He outlined the factors which had been, and

still were, effecting a decline of the Welsh language. He startled his listeners by his con-

clusion that ‘if present trends continue Welsh will cease to be a living language early in

the twenty ﬁ rst century’ (Lewis 1972: 13). But he also exhorted his listeners to challenge

the ﬂ ow of decay and despair by struggling to change the sociolinguistic conditions which

were strangling the vitality of the language in the public, ofﬁ cial and institutional spheres

in Wales.

Go to it in earnest and without wavering to make it impossible to conduct local

authority or central government business without the Welsh language . . . This is not

a haphazard policy for isolated individuals . . . It is a policy for a movement and that

movement should be active in those areas where Welsh is the everyday spoken lan-

guage, demanding that all election papers and every ofﬁ cial form relating to local or

parliamentary elections in Wales be in Welsh, raising the Welsh language to be the

main administrative medium of district and county.

(Lewis 1972: 26)

In time Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society) emerged with the prime

aim of promoting the use of Welsh by challenging the authorities on a number of fronts.

In February 1963 a demonstration was held in Aberystwyth post ofﬁ ce followed by the

blocking of Trefechan Bridge to all trafﬁ c. These actions brought to the public attention the

inferior status of the Welsh language in law. The young students of 1963 managed to bring

to the forefront an issue which had been smouldering for two decades. Through their action

they challenged the status quo and jolted many from inaction and despondency. In July of

the same year the Minister for Welsh Affairs convened a committee, under the chairman-

ship of Sir David Hughes Parry, ‘to clarify the legal status of the Welsh language and to

consider whether changes should be made in the law’ (Welsh Ofﬁ ce 1965: iii). In 1965 the

Hughes Parry report recommended that Welsh should have equal validity with English in

government and administration: ‘there should be a clear, positive, legislative declaration of

general application to the effect that any act, writing or thing done in Welsh should have the

THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC CONTEXT OF WELSH 695

legal force as if it had been done in English’ (Welsh Ofﬁ ce 1965: 35). This, however, did

not give equal status to Welsh because it did not give the legal right to the Welsh speaker to

use his/her own language in ofﬁ cial contexts. The Welsh Language Act 1967 merely made

possible the use of Welsh in courts and on ofﬁ cial forms. It had not gone far enough, and so

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg immediately set about testing the principle of equal validity.

Campaigns were started for bilingual versions of road- fund licences, electoral registration

forms, income tax forms, pension forms, radio and television licences. Banks were obliged

to concede on the bilingual cheque issue. Bilingual electricity bills and gas bills came next

in line. In time these were made available, but only as reactions to protests rather than as a

natural outcome of a declaration of equal validity. By the mid- 1970s British Rail and the

National Bus Company became targets of the campaigning.

Supermarkets were by then putting up bilingual signs. During the 1960s and 1970s

Cymdeithas yr Iaith campaigned vociferously on the road- sign issue. All kinds of counter-

arguments were presented against implementing a bilingual policy. Visitors would be

confused and would get lost if place names such as Aberteiﬁ co- occurred with Cardigan

and people would ﬁ nd it impossible to pronounce Caernarfon rather than Caernarvon!

Bilingual signs could be a major cause of road accidents. After a long drawn out cam-

paign, bilingualism became the established norm. Many thought that this was a case of

making a mountain out of a molehill, but in reality it was a battle that had to be won if due

respect was to be accorded to the language. Anglicized spellings of Welsh place names

were indeed symbolic of the inferior status that had been granted to Welsh. Further, all the

demonstrations and press coverage brought the language issue to the forefront of Welsh

politics. During the 1970s Cymdeithas yr Iaith concentrated on two issues – the need for

a Welsh language television channel, and the holiday- home question in rural Wales. The

non- violent approach of these ‘young extremists’ has been criticized as being divisive,

destructive and non- productive, but, in reality, the historical record is quite clear. All con-

cessions have been preceded by an intensiﬁ cation of Cymdeithas’ activities. D. G. Jones

(1973) assessed the role of Cymdeithas yr Iaith as follows:

Cymdeithas yr Iaith has succeeded in bringing the problem of the Welsh language

into public notice on a scale never achieved before . . . every campaign Cymdeithas

yr Iaith has in addition to the obvious aim of obtaining concessions in the public use

of Welsh, a less immediate but equally central aim which is to awaken a new spirit

among the people . . . But Cymdeithas yr Iaith will readily concede that status will

not of itself save a language. Just as important, as part of the broad strategy, is the

spirit of determination which the ﬁ ght for ofﬁ cial status calls into being. Cymdeithas

yr Iaith has assumed that persuasion to be effective, does not have to be friendly, and

that the kind of persuasion which shocks and challenges people, impresses them with

a seriousness of purpose and appeals to the aristocratic instinct in them, eventually

brings more solid results.

(D. G. Jones 1973: 303)

In 1973 the Secretary of State for Wales nominated members to a newly established Welsh

Language Council and their brief was to advise on all questions relating to the Welsh lan-

guage. They reported on broadcasting, on children’s magazines and on Welsh- medium

nursery education, and all these gained government support, thus securing for the Welsh

language a more prominent role in national life. Nevertheless, the main language issue,

that of non- equality with English, still remained an open sore. Although many leaﬂ ets and

forms were translated into Welsh, they were only available on request, so that most people